Design and manufacturing technology for electronic and optical components has advanced and continues to advance in miniaturization, density, function and performance. As a result, today's devices and systems incorporate a large amount of functionality into a small amount of space. Examples of this are laptop computers, servers, switches and other small form factor devices and systems. These systems must be kept from overheating by dissipating heat to the surrounding environment. Some components within the systems must also be given special attention either because they generate more heat than the others or because they exhibit more sensitivity to temperature changes and therefore must be kept cooler than other components. Examples of these components may include microprocessors, optical transceivers, power converters and many other components.
Conventionally, components within a system which generate large amounts of heat are cooled by mounting a heat sink on the components themselves. In addition, fans are frequently implemented within the housing of a system to improve airflow within the system and facilitate dissipating heat to the outside environment.
Fans are problematic, however, because they are not reliable and present a single point of failure. When a fan fails, a system may overheat thus damaging or destroying the system itself. Heat sinks which are used within the housing of a system also present problems. First, depending on their construction and the materials used, they may be expensive and also heavy. In addition, heat sinks present various other disadvantages depending on the way in which they are mounted within the system. When adhesives and clips are used to mount heat sinks to components, the attachment may not be stable or reliable and may not be well suited to certain applications. In addition, when heat sinks are mounted on a printed circuit board, posts or standoffs may be required which may block wiring channels and take up valuable space on the substrate that could be used for other purposes.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique for dissipating heat from within a system to the surrounding environment that does not require a fan within the system and that does not require expensive and bulky heat sinks within the interior of the system. There is a further need for inexpensive techniques to remove heat from within a system and components of the system. There is a further need for systems that have housings that are easy to assemble and disassemble, that are efficient at eliminating heat and that include features for preventing electrostatic discharge damage to components within the system.